


Episode Twenty-One:  The Soldier and the Flame of Eternity

by keirajo



Series: Transformers: Star Voyager [22]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Danger, Love, M/M, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 20:46:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17352311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keirajo/pseuds/keirajo
Summary: The aftermath on Bolohex--Rodimus Prime's ascension...............and a confrontation on Caprica, the planet of femmes!





	Episode Twenty-One:  The Soldier and the Flame of Eternity

Episode Twenty-One:  The Soldier and the Flame of Eternity

 

 

            “Roddy………….you okay bro?”  Blurr asked, carefully approaching his best friend—whose frame was now twice as large and a little bit bulkier.

            “ _Y—yeah_.   I’m good,” the new Rodimus Prime responded and, then, he paused when his deeper voice sounded strange, even to him.   “Is everyone else okay?”   He asked, looking around.

            “ ** _We_** are………….but I’m not sure Drift is,” Override responded, nodding over to where the young swordsmech was cradling the limp frame of Starscream.

            Rodimus Prime nodded sagely and walked over to where his lover was grieving over his former teacher and guardian’s still frame.   He knelt, but did not say anything to Drift, then spread his servo over the oozing wound in Starscream’s chest.

            “ _Oh_ ……… ** _you_** …………you are the flame,” Starscream whispered, a bare little bit of life still inside of him.  “The one Sentinel…………..Prime…………wanted to find………….that he thought………….” the old Decepticon warrior trailed off.

            “It’s all right.  I understand,” Rodimus murmured.   “Is there something you want to say to Drift?”  He asked, curiously.

            Drift stared at where the flame-colored mech’s servo was on Starscream’s chest and saw faint energy trying to keep the aerial mech alive long enough to say the words he needed to say.   His optics slowly moved back up to Starscream’s faceplate, as his old guardian tilted his head to look at him.

            “I _tried_ …………….but I was already wounded in my Spark when………..I took you in…………” Starscream said, softly, coughing a bit as lifeblood began to backwash into his purification systems and up into his throat.   He felt Rodimus Prime’s other servo brush light fingers over his throat, as if to clear it.   “The seeds of Primus………..should _never_ have been spread out from Cybertron.   You………….. _you should’ve_ …………been born on Cybertron………..”

            “Don’t say that you didn’t want me!   **_I_** …………!”   Drift cried, tears leaking from the small seams around his optical glass.

            “ _Idiot_.   I’m glad for you in my life, because……………I may have just foolishly followed Megatron in the end and died on Root— _you_ made me keep fighting against the kind of Decepticons…………..that the brute wanted………….” Starscream chuckled, raising a wobbly arm to clap a servo against the side of Drift’s faceplate.   “We **_all_** should’ve…………..been born on Cybertron……………..as one……………..with Primus…………..” he whispered, sadly.   Then, with his servo being cradled by Drift’s on the younger mech’s faceplate, Starscream turned his gaze back over to Rodimus Prime.   “ _You_.   Take care of my little sparkling.”

            “Don’t worry, I will,” Rodimus answered, smiling down at Starscream.   “The damage has been done and the seeds of Primus have been scattered—but don’t worry, _I’ll protect it all_.  Every single one of the colonies that remain.   Are you ready to join your trine, Starscream?”  He asked.

            “ _Yeah_ ,” the aerial mech sighed, a shaky little smile on his faceplate.   His body shuddered and his optics cycled between shuttered and open in very swift periodic cycles.  “ _Oh_ …………..Thunder…………..Sky…………….. ** _you’re here_** ,” he murmured, his other arm wavering as he reached it up towards the ceiling.  “ _Thank you_ ………………” he whispered, right before the last ember of his Spark burned out and his frame greyed and went completely limp.

            “Drift?”  The young Prime said, softly, reaching over to lay a servo on the other side of Drift’s faceplate—the one he didn’t have Starscream’s servo plastered against.

            “ _Leave me alone_ ,” the white-and-grey mech growled.

            “You know I can’t,” Rodimus murmured.   “We’ll take his frame with us and see it interred on Cybertron, as it should be.   But we _have to go_ ………….we have to meet Mags and the others on Caprica and we don’t have much time before………..”

            Drift’s optics met his, looking up at him absently.

            “If we are to save the colonies, _we have to go now_.   We can’t linger any further here,” the flame-colored mech said, holding his lover’s gaze.

            “ _Don’t care_ ,” Drift snapped, his voice deep and quiet with his grief.

            “ ** _So_**.   You’re saying that _our trine_ is worthless to you now?” Rodimus said, firmly—no anger and no hurt in his voice, because he knew that Drift really didn’t mean the words that he was saying.  He just needed to convince Drift of that.

            “ _No_ ,” Drift mumbled, still cradling Starscream’s dead servo against his faceplate.

            “I _know_ you’re hurting.   If this happened to Mags, _it would kill me_ —not just because he’s my lover now, but because he’s the mech who raised me.   I _do_ understand how you feel, Drift,” the young Prime said.  “We’ll take Starscream’s body with us—you heard me say that, right?   We’re going to make sure he gets a _proper Cybertronian funeral_ ,” he added.

            “ _’Kay_ ,” the grey-and-white mech sighed.

            Rodimus Prime gently pushed his arms underneath Starscream’s dead frame and lifted him up, easily, with his new strength.   “Blurr……….Override—help out Drift, let’s get back to the _Star Voyager_ and get to Caprica,” he ordered, firmly.

            They all returned and Rodimus got a lot of surprised looks from everyone about his new frame.   He said he’d explain everything later as he took Starscream’s frame down to the medi-bay.   Then he asked First Aid to clean up the body and prepare it for interment, when they reached Cybertron.   The little medic reached up a servo to pat Rodimus Prime’s shoulder and assured him he’d treat the corpse with all the respect  a great mech like he was should have deserved.   The flame-colored mech smiled down at the cute little medic, happy that Drift’s teacher would be well taken care of for an eventual proper funeral.

            As he walked down the corridors heading for the bridge, he was stopped by Brainstorm.

            “Hey, did you finish the upgrade to the quantum engines?”  Rodimus Prime asked, smiling down at the teal-and-white mech.

            “ _Yeah_.  And, **_wow_** …………that’s a big growth spurt, Hot Rod!”  Brainstorm laughed, warmly.

            “The Matrix says it’s _‘Rodimus Prime’_ now,” the flame-colored mech responded with a warm chuckle.

            “ _Got it_.   Hey………………can I come along on your journey, too?”  Brainstorm asked, gazing up at the young Prime eagerly.

            “Sure, but we gotta go **_now_** …………..no time for you to go and get belongings,” Rodimus Prime said, seriously.

            “ _’S’okay_ …………my place is littered with equipment and not really much in the way of personal things I need—don’t need all my trophies,” the teal-and-white scientist responded with a shrug.   “Ya just gotta give me a room and maybe provide me some equipment to research with—I’ll be happy enough with that.”

            “Is that because I invited Jetfire and his partner, Beachcomber, to come with us?”  Rodimus asked, tilting his head and grinning down at the young scientist.

            “ _Yeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssss_ ………………” Brainstorm trailed off.   “Don’t get me wrong—our rivalry has always been fun and has always kept me motivated.  I like ‘em a lot.   And I think Bolohex would be boring for me without their competition………….”

            “All right—let me quickly show you where the hab suites are and then I have to get up to the bridge, so we can set course for Caprica,” the flame-colored mech answered, grinning.

            “The planet of femmes?   _Ooooh_ , that should be fun and interesting!”   Brainstorm laughed, following alongside Rodimus Prime down the corridors.

            In the end, Brainstorm chose a hab suite next to the one that Airrazor shared with Star Saber.  Rodimus Prime made his way to the bridge and saw Drift and Blurr at the piloting console.   The flame-colored mech walked over and draped his arms over Drift’s shoulders.

            “You gonna be okay, Drift?   You good to pilot?”   He asked, hugging his lover gently.

            “I’ll be fine.  Sorry I snarled at you,” the younger swordsmech answered, reaching back a servo to pat Rodimus’ rounded helm.

            “It’s okay, just give it time.   I’m here if you need me,” Rodimus responded, nuzzling his lover’s helm tenderly.

            “It seems we have a bit to talk about—even though you told me what would happen, your new size and position is still a bit weird to see,” Drift chuckled, patting Rodimus’ helm some more.

            “ _Ah_ , yeah…………….and it’s _Rodimus Prime_ now,” the flame-colored mech answered.   “None of you have to become Autobots—you _don’t_ have to take the brand.   But…………. _I have to_.   Because I need to unify everyone—so I **_need_** to be recognized.”

            “Like _your flames_ don’t make you stand out,” Blurr laughed.

            Rodimus laughed, pulling away from Drift and walking over to lean down and hug his very best friend.

            “Are we going to have time on Velocitron?” The blue-colored mech asked.

            “Yeah.  _We will_.   Unless Unicron changes direction—he’s heading for Cybertron, but………….his path is direct and he moves **_slow_** ,” Rodimus answered, nuzzling the top of Blurr’s helm.   “But we’re heading to Cybertron directly after Velocitron.”

            “You’re _not_ just doing it for me, right?   I mean…………the universe comes first, bro,” Blurr responded with a light pout in his voice.

            “ _I’m_ doing it for you, but……………I’m well aware of the time.   Besides………….Velocitron has a working spacebridge and……………though he doesn’t realize it yet, Brainstorm can fix the one on Cybertron,” Rodimus answered.

            “Are we splitting up again?”  Drift asked, curiously.

            “Yeah.   _After Caprica_.  I’ll explain more to everyone after we’re reunited on Caprica,” the flame-colored mech answered, pulling away from Blurr and walking back to the captain’s chair.   “Set course for Caprica…………and let’s get there fast.”

            “Understood, Rodimus Prime!”  Drift and Blurr said in unison, then looked at each other and laughed warmly.

 

*      *      *      *      *

 

            “Rrrrargh!”  Galvatron snarled, rushing at Ultra Magnus.   “ _Just give up!_    Unicron shall devour the worlds in his path, including this one!”

            “Not so long as I live!”  The old soldier snapped back, spinning on a pede and throwing the bulky purple mech over his shoulder.   “ _Elita!_    Keep your optics on the fleet in the skies!   Don’t let them get close enough to blanket the city with ordinance!”   Ultra Magnus commanded, gazing at the pink femme sniping at enemies and pointing up to the sky at the aerial fleet of blue and purple ship mechs.

            They had landed on Caprica two days ago, to await the rendezvous with Hot Rod and the Star Voyager.   They’d went to the capital city of Aquarius and met with one of the five members of the council of leadership on Caprica, Elita-1.   The matriarchy of Caprica was very interesting and would be a wonderful sociological observation—if they’d had more time.

            Ultra Magnus had explained to the Matriarch of Aquarius about Unicron and the danger of the Decepticons.   Elita had immediately called her other four equals and they were about to meet, when suddenly Galvatron and Nemesis Prime had arrived and engaged a battle.   Mostly, Fortress Maximus was standing in a sentinel guard position in his massive, giant robot mode above the city of Aquarius—keeping the aerial forces at bay—but it didn’t stop a few more reckless members of the newly reborn Decepticons’ aerial fleet to try and sweep in and cause a little havoc on the habitation blocks and shops.   There was a small ground force, being kept busy by Magnus’ team and the femmes in Aquarius.

            While Ultra Magnus took on Galvatron—Star Saber and Roadfire had taken on the very dangerous Nemesis Prime.   Galvatron was chaotic and fought on his own whims—it made him unpredictable, so Ultra Magnus and his skill of combat education/weaponslearning made him a better opponent to Galvatron.   Nemesis Prime was careful and very knowledgably engaged in combat—he spoke very little and his voice was very different from the mech whose body that originally belonged to.

            Then again, _Optimus Prime had died_ —and **_that_** was merely a reformatted corpse with Unicron’s consciousness inside of it.

            A roar of a familiar ship engine drew the old soldier’s attention up to the skies—just in time to see Fortress Maximus bat away a dozen aerial Decepticons, so that the _Star Voyager_ could swoop in to land.   But before the ship landed, a flame-colored frame leapt out of the ship and landed heavily next to Ultra Magnus—a frame now almost as tall as he was and with a bit more bulk on it than he remembered his little star having when they parted.

            And there was a newly familiar symbol emblazoned on his chestplate, in the center of those oh-so-familiar flames.

            “I’ll explain later, but for now—let _me_ take on Galvatron.   _You_ help Star Saber and Roadfire with Nemesis Prime,” Rodimus said, firmly, meeting his lover and guardian’s gaze.   “ _That one_ is a big danger, because it is Unicron’s consciousness with Optimus Prime’s battle skills………..your own skills should help you out against him………….. _this is for you_ —I had Brainstorm make it to my specifications,” he added, pulling a massive sledgehammer out of subspace.   “Glad he was able to make it so fast—I’ll have him craft a _better one_ when there’s more time.”

            “Hot Rod…………. _what_ ………..?”  Ultra Magnus gasped, taking the massive hammer and hefting it to his shoulder.

            Rodimus leaned in quickly and kissed Ultra Magnus with a swift sweep of his glossa in his lover’s mouth.  “The sledgehammer should let you beat back Nemesis’ battle-axe…………your skills are _better than his_.   Now **_go_** , Mags!”   He said, sharply, pushing hard on his beloved’s chest and dashed off to confront Galvatron—who was just struggling to his pedes after the hefty throw from the old soldier.

            Ultra Magnus shook off the moment of shock and refocused on the battles going on.  He spun on his pedes and rushed towards where his old friend and the swordsmech from Sanctuary were battling the dark and corrupted frame of the former Autobot Leader, Optimus Prime—now called Nemesis Prime.

            “ ** _Incoming!_** ”  Ultra Magnus roared in warning as he ran up with the sledgehammer in full swing to connect as he approached the black-and-purple mech.

            Star Saber, attuned to his old comrade’s fighting abilities, moved out of the way swiftly—Roadfire’s instincts had him do the same.

            “Still the same old Magnus,” Roadfire chuckled.

            Star Saber tilted his head at the shorter and younger mech.   Perhaps he wasn’t far off when he’d deduced a data-interface between this one and his old friend, Dai Atlas?   He probably had some of the deceased mech’s personality lingering around his program as a program ghost…………..Roadfire probably didn’t even realize he was acting with some of his dead lover’s personality traits anymore—or probably didn’t care, because the one he loved was still with him somehow.

            “ _You_ ,” Nemesis Prime said, a gravelly and deep voice with a strange echo to it.   He swung his battle axe just hard enough to throw off the sledgehammer’s strike, even as he stepped slightly to the side to avoid it.   “Are you certain you want the Flame of Eternity to face off against Galvatron alone?”  The living-dead mech taunted.

            “I trust in Hot Rod,” Ultra Magnus growled, swinging the sledgehammer around for another strike—which had Nemesis Prime hop back and sweep his battle axe out again to knock off the aim.

            Nemesis _knew_ he couldn’t stand up against the old soldier’s strength and skill…………he just had to _keep the strikes from connecting_.   He concentrated all of his attention on making sure the swings of his axe connected at just the right moments to knock the sledgehammer out of its strike path.   As soon as Star Saber and Roadfire noticed that the dark mech turned **_all_** of his attention on Ultra Magnus—they moved in to make jabs and lunges with their swords at the puppet of Unicron.

            “ _Grrr_.  Unfair combat,” Nemesis Prime growled, propelling himself back from the three opponents.   He placed fingers to his left audial and called back his forces on the ground, to retreat.   He could care less whether Galvatron and his aerial forces pulled back or not.

            _That said…………._

            Rodimus Prime rushed at Galvatron, meeting the mad mech’s charge full-on and grabbing the fists, pushing back hard.   Galvatron’s strength was a true match for everything the Matrix had given Hot Rod—they were on _equal footing_.   So, now, Rodimus just had to work to outthink Galvatron’s lust for fighting.

            “I know you’re in pain…………….you were alive when Unicron tried to take you,” Rodimus said, staring into the crimson glass covering the Decepticon’s optics.   “I can help you…………..I can fix you!”

            “ _Fix?_    There’s nothing to be fixed here—my frame is stronger and more powerful than before!”  Galvatron thundered.

            The flame-colored mech sighed and shook his head.   “If you say so.   You should probably know—your partner just left you behind,” he said, nodding towards what had been the center of the battle where Nemesis Prime had been.

            “He is a coward,” the purple-and-grey mech chortled, giving Rodimus Prime a devilish grin.   “ _You_ appear to be a worthy opponent, Flame of Eternity!”

            “Thanks—and the name’s _Rodimus Prime_!”  The younger mech laughed.  “But you may want to go.   Even your aerial fleet has pulled back.   Unicron probably even issued you orders to do so…………..”

            “ _Nnnngh_ …………..wanna stay and fight…………….. ** _fight you_** ,” Galvatron growled, angrily.   The younger mech was right, he could feel Unicron calling to him—demanding that he retreat for now.   But his gladiator’s instincts from his time as Megatron, those wanted him to stay and fight a strong opponent.

            “There will be another time, I promise,” Rodimus chuckled, pulling his hands away from Galvatron and let the bulky purple mech retreat, flying up into the atmosphere and flying away.   Now it was time to go explain things to Ultra Magnus………….so he walked back to the center of the battles, in the heart of the city, and started helping everyone clean up.

            After everyone started telling him to go over and talk to the old soldier who was trying to hold himself back………….Rodimus chuckled nervously and went up to the mech he loved so much.

            “Hey Mags,” Rodimus said, softly, placing a servo on the older mech’s shoulder pillar and patting softly.

            “I am really glad to see you………….and you look _more_ than okay,” the old soldier murmured, feeling a bit odd to be looking optic-to-optic with his little star.

            “We got the Matrix back……………and it chose me—as it was supposed to,” Rodimus answered, just as softly, holding his guardian and lover’s gaze firmly.   “As Drift always felt it was supposed to be………….my destiny and all that.”

            “Now that you are both here, I can feel anxiety in your Spark and grief in his,” Ultra Magnus answered, softly, reaching up to cup Rodimus Prime’s faceplate, his palms gently splayed along the sides.

            The flame-colored mech shuttered his optics and placed his servos over Magnus’ on the sides of his face.   “Yeah, it’s been some kind of wild since we parted ways.   There’s a lot I have to explain to everybody……..after we’re done cleaning up here—I’d like to gather all our crew together, but………….if the people of this city want to listen to me explain things, too, they’re welcome to hang about as well,” he said, a deep sigh at the end of his statement.

            “How long do we have?”  The old soldier asked, leaning forwards so that now their foreheads were touching.

            “We’re going to split up again as we leave Caprica.   I have a special project I want Brainstorm to do back on Cybertron—and I promised Drift that Starscream’s body will get a proper Cybertronian interment,” Rodimus whispered, suddenly very nervous.  “I………….don’t want to part from you again—I _need you_ at my side for the moment.   But…………..I think it will be right for Drift to go this time.   To see closure on his life and what Starscream meant to him.”

            “Then we shall do what you think is best,” Ultra Magnus murmured, gently brushing his lips over Rodimus’.

            “Are you…………. _freaked out_ over this………….over **_me_**?”  Rodimus asked, his nerves dashing about in overdrive inside of him.

            “Would I be kissing you if I were?” The red-white-blue mech laughed, softly.

            Rodimus Prime felt his whole body relax with relief.   He was sure Magnus wouldn’t be put off by this, but there was a small part of him that was really worried.   Because if his guardian were suddenly uninterested in the “ _new and improved Hot Rod_ ”…………it might shatter the flame-colored mech’s Spark.

            “Are you okay with me in charge?”  The younger mech asked, trying to keep his calm while Magnus was giving him feather-light kisses along his faceplate and lips.

            “You have been growing towards this for a while now,” Ultra Magnus responded, finally pulling away, but still cupped his little star’s face.   “But you are wearing the Autobot brand………….?”  He trailed off.

            “The Matrix says it needs me to,” Rodimus answered, still keeping his optics shuttered and reveling in the touch of Magnus’ servos on his faceplate.   “We’ve been friendly towards the colonies we’ve visited so far and they might follow me, but………….. _the Autobots_ need a leader that they know is on their side,” he added.   “I _missed_ you, Mags.  I missed you so much!”  He cried softly.

            Ultra Magnus removed his servos from Rodimus’ face and then pulled the flame-colored mech against him, holding him tightly with all the love in his Spark.

 

*      *      *      *      *

 

            After explaining the situation to every member of the _Star Voyager_ crew—and with a good crowd of the femmes from Aquarius listening in to the story, Rodimus Prime made a plan to meet with Elita-1 and would discuss with her what to convey to the Caprican council members about Unicron and the Decepticons…………..and the fighting.   He felt like he was non-stop busy ever since he claimed the Matrix.   While he was talking with Cerebros, Fortress Maximus’ _kovu_ —he glanced around and saw Ultra Magnus talking with Drift and eventually hugging the shorter mech, patting his back.   Rodimus figured that Drift finally told him about the confrontation with Starscream.

            “I have a small bit of familiarity with the spacebridge technology—most of us on Leviathan did,” Cerebros said, noting Rodimus’ distracted gaze, but said nothing to the young leader.   “I can assist Brainstorm with whatever he may need on Cybertron.”

            “I appreciate that Cerebros,” Rodimus answered, bringing his attention back to the conversation.   “So, I’ll be sending _you_ with a few of the crew to convey the messages back to Cybertron—I have to compose a video message for the Autobots and I’ll need to make sure I show them the Matrix and the brand on my chest.   They’ve been friendly to us so far, but we need to make sure they’re _on our side_.”

            “Rodimus…………since Star Saber is going—would you mind if I went along this time?”  Airrazor asked in her quiet voice.

            “Sure, that’s no problem.   I’d like you to assist First Aid, if you could—he wants to go and check on the injured back on Cybertron and I don’t foresee we’ll need a medic on Velocitron,” the young, flame-colored mech responded, smiling down at the Gaean femme.

            “I would be honored—and I would enjoy learning more about medical things from him,” the yellow-and-brown femme responded with a smile.

            Rodimus Prime was planning on sending Fortress Maximus back to Cybertron with a small portion of the crew—Star Saber would be the commanding officer in his place and the Protectobots were all going back, as First Aid wanted to help the Autobot injured from the battle on Root.  Airrazor had just volunteered to go along…………and he wanted Brainstorm to work on getting the spacebridge up and running.   Drift was going, so he could see to Starscream’s proper interment.

            That left Ultra Magnus, Blurr, Override, Roadfire and Grotusque to stay with Rodimus on the _Star Voyager_ ……………and go to Velocitron.

            This trip was _for Blurr_ , mostly—because Rodimus truly wanted to see his old friend race on a track fully worthy of his skill and speed.   Plus, he knew Velocitron had its spacebridge in well-maintained working condition, because the Capricans informed him of that.   Caprica and Velocitron weren’t far away in the spatial sense, so they kept up some communications with each other.   They did sometimes wish the spacebridges would connect so they could visit one another………..so Caprica kept their spacebridge in working condition, too, to hope one day to be able to reconnect with Cybertron and maybe the other colonies.

            Rodimus promised Elita that he’d see to the upgrades of the colony spacebridges, so that _all colonies could connect to each other once more_ —and not have to do so merely via a Cybertron layover.  He wasn’t going to yet reveal the spacebridges could connect via the colony planetary coordinates…………he wanted to make sure there wasn’t sheer chaos if they knew they could visit each other—he’d have to talk with the leaders of the worlds and set a travel system up before such an announcement could be made.   Which was something that Rodimus Prime _really wanted to do_ —he wanted to bring all of Primus’ children together once more…………..and he wasn’t going to have Cybertron merely be a layover destination for the colonies.

            “Rodimus………..” Override began, coming up to the young leader, as soon as Cerebros and Airrazor had walked away.

            “Hey, teach…………what’s up?”  He asked, grinning down at her.  

            “I’ve been talking with Elita and asked to have a communication with Velocitron, mainly to enter Blurr in a race,” the stocky femme began.  “ _Anyone_ can race on Velocitron and there are many informal races—but unless you spend half-a-year in qualifying races, you have no chance of entering the really big ones.”

            “ _Oh man_ ……………..so Blurr **_can’t_** race?”  Rodimus said, disappointment in his vocalizer—Blurr would be crushed!

            “Not so—there’s a _loophole_.   It’s old and nobody uses it anymore, because…………….well, most people like their attention and glory and enter every race they can,” Override chuckled, grinning up at her former student.   “A surprise racer—meaning one _not entered_ into the half-year qualifiers on Velocitron—can still enter a big name race **_if_** they have a well-known sponsor.  And if they have raced on tracks with defined lengths and time records that would qualify them.”

            “ _Oh_ ………….but how do we get a sponsor?”   The flame-colored mech murmured.   “Have you talked to Blurr about this yet?”   He asked.

            “Not yet, I don’t want him to fret too much about it.   But………….between the two of us— ** _we_** can make it work,” the femme chuckled.  “The day after tomorrow is probably one of the largest races ever on Velocitron— _the World Drive Cup_.   It’s longer than most of what Blurr’s used to, as far as races go………..however, _you’ve_ been training with him for most of your lives and he knows that stamina is just as important as speed.   I’ve won this race at least a dozen times back in my prime racing era.   And I can tell you right now, Blurr’s official race times from the few cities in Corona he’s been racing in—they _more than qualify_ him.”

            “ _Got it_.   So………….all we need now is the well-known sponsor.   How do we get one of those?”  Rodimus said, tilting his head as he gazed down at the stocky femme.

            “I’m quite certain **_my_** name still has some kind of pull and ranking on Velocitron,” Override laughed.  “Elita told me that they still tell stories of my races and some of my times have never been beat.   I’m going to take a gamble that _Nitro of Narrowpath Fields_ is **_still_** going to have enough influence to get Blurr in this race.”

            “ _Let’s do it!_ ”  Rodimus said excitedly, grinning at her, holding up and arm so they could bump forearms against one another in a friendly manner.

           

**Author's Note:**

> We're in the end run for the finale--a 26-episode season. I hope you'll all hang in there! :D


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